Mint Sets

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Mint Sets

Mint Sets

Uncirculated Mint sets contain coins produced under more or less standard conditions, and which are packaged as a set and sold for a fee over the coins face value. The sets provide collectors with Uncirculated examples of each coin struck for circulation that year, and in some...READ MORE

Mint Sets

Mint Sets

Uncirculated Mint sets contain coins produced under more or less
standard conditions, and which are packaged as a set and sold for a
fee over the coins face value. The sets provide collectors with
Uncirculated examples of each coin struck for circulation that year,
and in some cases, examples of coins struck for the Uncirculated Mint
sets only (the three 1981 Anthony dollars, for example, and the 1970-D
Kennedy half dollar).

The first Uncirculated Mint sets, with coins dated 1947, were
offered in 1948. After the 1947 sets sold out, 1948-dated sets were
offered to the public. Sets were again offered in 1949, but none were
offered in 1950 due to a Treasury decision to conserve appropriations
and manpower during the Korean War, and because Uncirculated coins
were available from banks. From 1951 through 1964, sets were offered
every year. The numbers of coins offered fluctuated from year to year,
depending upon what denominations were being struck for circulation.

Before 1959, Uncirculated Mint sets were individually packaged in
cardboard folders; each set contained two specimens of each coin
struck that year. Beginning in 1959, sets were packaged in
polyethylene packets and contained just one example of each coin
struck that year.No Uncirculated Mint sets or Proof sets were
offered from 1965 to 1967 because of a major coin shortage sweeping
the country, which was blamed in part on coin collectors and
speculators. However, Mint officials did offer Special Mint sets,
featuring coins not the quality of Proofs but better than those found
in the pre-1964 Uncirculated Mint sets.

Production and sales of Uncirculated Mint sets resumed in 1968. From
1973 to 1978, Philadelphia and Denver Mint specimens of the Eisenhower
dollar were contained in the set. In 1979, the Eisenhower dollar was
replaced by the Anthony dollar, and a San Francisco Assay Office
specimen was added. No Uncirculated Mint sets were offered in 1982 and
1983, with Mint officials blaming budgetary cutbacks. Because of
collector pressure, Congress passed a law in 1983 requiring annual
sales of both Uncirculated Mint sets and Proof sets.

As noted earlier, some Uncirculated Mint sets contain coins not
struck for circulation. This generally increases the value of the sets
because collectors saving an example of each coin struck each year
will be unable to find the needed coins in circulation. In 1970, no
half dollars were struck for circulation; thus, the 1970-D Kennedy
half dollar could only be found in the set. In 1973, no Eisenhower
dollars were struck for circulation, but the dollars were included in
the set. The only way to obtain the three 1981 Anthony dollars was to
buy the Uncirculated Mint set of that year, and in 1987, no Kennedy
half dollars were struck for circulation but were included in the set.
The 1996 Uncirculated sets include a 1996-W Roosevelt dime - available
nowhere else - added at no charge to commemorate the 50th anniversary
of the coins introduction.

Coin values search results

LIBERTY CAP RIGHT HALF CENT

THE SMALLEST DENOMINATION

Although it may seem unusual today, the United States government once issued a coin worth less than one cent: the half cent. The copper U.S. half cent was authorized for production on April 2, 1792. During its 64-year lifespan as a circulating denomination, five different basic design types of the tiny (0.93-inch) coin were struck. The coins were struck at the Philadelphia Mint and do not have a Mint mark. The half cent's designers and engravers are among the best known names in U.S. Mint design/engraving history: Adam Eckfeldt, Robert Scot, John Gardner, Gilbert Stuart, John Reich and Christian Gobrecht. Designs for the half cent were also used on other denominations through the years. The 1793 Liberty Cap half cent features a lettered edge stating TWO HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR. The obverse depicts a bust of Liberty with flowing hair, facing left. A Liberty Cap on a pole rests on her right shoulder giving the design its name, the Liberty Cap. The design for the Liberty Cap half cent was based on Agustin Dupre's Libertas Americana medal. Half cents struck between 1794 and 1797 bear another Liberty Cap design, this one facing right, and issued in Plain Edge, Lettered Edge and Gripped Edge varieties. From 1800 to 1808 the Draped Bust design was used on half cents. All half cents bearing those dates are Plain Edge varieties. The Classic Head design was used on half cents struck between 1809-1836. From 1849 to 1857, a Coronet design with Plain Edge was used. All half cents have a wreath on the reverse. The key dates in the series are 1793; 1796, No Pole; 1802/0, Reverse of 1800; and 1831.